Apparatus for suspending tile ceilings



1965 F. WHITE APPARATUS FOR SUSPENDING TILE CEILING'S Filed Feb. 23,1962 I F F Inventor FREDERICK WHITE United States Patent 3,203,148APPARATUS FOR SUSPENDING TILE CEILINGS Frederick White, 9 Chipping Road,Don Mills, Ontario, Canada Filed Feb. 23, 1962, Ser. No. 175,207 3Claims. (Cl. 52-485) This invention relates to a device for suspendingceiling tiles from overhead floor joists and the like.

A common method of hanging ceiling tiles envisages the use of varioustypes of laterally spaced supports with special means of fastening suchsupports to overhead floor joists. The main purpose of such methods isto provide a uniform horizontal frame to which ceiling tiles may besecured.

Since in most cases the under side of floor joists and beams presents anirregular surface, some means must be provided between the tile and sucha surface in order to ensure an even ceiling.

The conventional means employed rely upon the method of first providinga level surface by using strips of metal or wood nailed to the woodenjoists, packing being provided between these to ensure a level surface.It will be appreciated that the process of leveling the supportingsurface prior to tiling is time consuming and in most instances requiresa considerable amount of skill.

It is accordingly the main object of the present invention to provide aninexpensive ceiling tile hanger which will permit quick installation ofa tile ceiling with a minimum of skill.

It is another object of the invention to provide a ceiling tile hangerwhich may be adjusted for vertical position during installation of thetile.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a ceiling tilehanger which will resist lateral deflection.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a ceiling tilehanger which may be secured within the interlocking edges of the tileand fastened to the supporting joists to form an integral structure.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a ceiling tilehanger adapted to be manufactured in a single operation from a strip ofmaterial.

These and other objects and features will be apparent from the followingdiscussion and accompanying drawings in which like numerals refer tolike parts.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of one preferred embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the embodiment as illustrated inFIGURE 1 shown in the installed position supporting ceiling tiles; and

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of a second preferred embodiment of thisinvention.

With reference to FIGURE 1, the hanger indicated generally as 11comprises an upright body portion 12 and a bracket portion 13 formedthereon at the lower end. The upper end of body portion 12 is rolled toform a tubular shaped nail holder 14 which secures nail 15 therein infrictional engagement.

As shown in the drawing, it is preferable to form bracket 13 at rightangles to body 12 and to form nail holder 14 square with body 12 so thatnail 15 will be secured substantially parallel with the plane of bracket13. It will be further understood that although a simple finishing nailis shown as a presently preferred type, other types of nails or screwsmay also be used.

The manner of utilizing this invention is depicted in FIGURE 2 wherein ahanger 11 is shown supporting ceiling tiles 16, 17 some distance below afloor joist 18. As will be seen from the drawing, tiles 16, 17 are ofthe 3,203,148 Patented Aug. 31, 1965 conventional locking type whereintongue 19 is provided on tile 17 and groove 20 is provided on tile 16.

It is of interest to note that upper seam 21 is offset from lower orexterior seam 22, whereby a joint which is resistant to flexure isobtained. While this is conventional practice the present inventiontakes advantage of this fact by providing bracket 13 inserted in groove20 above tongue 19 to ensure an anchorage of hanger 11 which will resistlateral deflection relative to the tiles.

The vertical position of hanger 11 may be established by selecting aposition on joist 18 which will preserve the level of the ceiling, anddriving in nail 15. This position may be found by sighting along thetile to be hung in line with a reference surface, such as previouslyinstalled tiles, or a spirit level may also be used. Obviously, thefirst tile and hanger would be positioned at a vertical heightcalculated to clear any unevenness or obstruction presented by thejoists, which height may be found by direct measurement.

In addition to the variation in vertical position relative to the floorjoist which may be had, the longitudinal position of hanger 11 in seam21 may also be varied. In this way, the spacing of the hangers, which isdetermined by the spacing of the joists, is adapted to a variety of tilesizes and positions relative to the joists.

With reference to FIGURE 3 a second embodiment of this invention isshown.

A hanger (not shown) may be formed with the upper end 28 thereofprovided with means of holding a nail 29, comprising slits 30 formedsome distance apart, the material therebetween being upset to formpassageways 31 through which nail 29 may be inserted. As before, it ispreferable that passageways 31 be made sufiiciently small as to holdnail 29 in frictional engagement.

From the above, it will be seen that the invention comprises: a tilesupport member having end portions for suspendably supporting ceilingtiles in spaced relation to floor joists or the like; joist engagementmeans on said support for attachment to said joists; and a bracketformed on an end portion of said member and in a plane substantiallynormal thereto for engagement with said tiles.

While there has been described what is at present considered a preferredembodiment of the present invention, it will be appreciated by thoseskilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be madetherein without departing from the essence of the invention and it isintended to cover herein all such changes and modifications as comewithin the true spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In combination a ceiling tile suspended from a joist by at least onehanger along at least one edge thereof, said ceiling tile having atleast one tongue and at least one groove on the edges thereof, saidhanger comprising an elongate generally rectangular planar sheet metalshank member formed of a single flat web of sheet metal havingtransverse and longitudinal axes normal to one another and having upperand lower end portions lying in a single common plane, nail holdingmeans defining a nail passageway formed integrally with said shankmember extending along said upper end portion thereof along an axisparallel to the plane of said web of said shank member and to saidtransverse axis thereof; a bracket of generally rectangular planar sheetmetal engaging said edge of said tile and formed into a single flat weblying in a single plane and having a transverse axis parallel to saidtransverse axis of said shank member formed integrally with said lowerend portion of said shank member by deflecting an endwise extension ofsaid shank member through substantially a right angle along a fold lineparallel to said transverse axes, the plane of said bracket being normalto the plane of said shank member and defining therewith substantiallyan L-shape in longitudinal section and a nail in said passagewayswingably fastening said hanger to said joist for swinging movement ofsaid bracket toward and away from said edge.

2. The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said nail holding meanscomprises a nail holder on said shank member formed by rolling the upperend portion thereof to define a nail receiving channel.

3. The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said nail holding meanscomprises a nail holder formed on References Cited by the ExaminerUNITED STATES PATENTS 9/19 Taylor 24828 X 11/43 Olsen 50397 10 JACOB L.NACKENOFF, Primary Examiner.

RICHARD W. COOKE, Examiner.

1. IN COMBINATION A CEILING TILE SUSPENDED FROM A JOIST BY AT LEAST ONEHANGER ALONG AT LEAST ONE EDGE THEREOF, SAID CEILING TILE HAVING ATLEAST NE TONGUE AND AT LEAST ONE GROOVE ON THE EDGES THEREOF, SAIDHANGER COMPRISING AN ELONGATE GENERALLY RECTANGULAR PLANAR SHEET METALSHANK MEMBER FORMED OF A SINGLE FLAT WEB OF SHEET METAL HAVINGTRANSVERSE AND LONGITUDINAL AXES NORMAL TO ONE ANOTHER AND HAVING UPPERAND LOWER END PORTIONS LYING IN A SINGLE COMMON PLANE, NAIL HOLDINGMEANS DEFINING A NAIL PASSAGEWAY FORMED INTEGRALLY WITH SAID SHANKMEMBER EXTENDING ALONG SAID UPPER END PORTION THEREOF ALONG AN AXISPARALLEL TO THE PLANE OF SAID WEB OF SAID SHANK MEMBER AND TO SAIDTRANSVERSE AXIS THEREOF; A BRACKET OF GENERALLY RECTANGULAR PLANAR SHEETMETAL EN GAGING SAID EDGE OF SAID TILE AND FORMED INTO A SINGLE FLAT WEBLYING IN A SINGLE PLANE AND HAVING A TRANSVERSE AXIS PARALLEL TO SAIDTRANSVERSE AXIS OF SAID SHANK MEMBER FORMED INTEGRALLY WITH SAID LOWEREND PORTION OF SAID SHANK MEMBER BY DEFLECTING AN ENDWISE EXTENSION OFSAID SHANK MEMBER THROUGH SUBSTANTIALLY A RIGHT ANGLE ALONG A FOLD LINEPARALLEL TO SAID TRANSVERSE AXES, THE PLANE OF SAID BRACKET BEING NORMALTO THE PLANE OF SAID SHANK MEMBER AND DEFINING THEREWITH SUBSTANTIALLYAN L-SHAPE IN LONGITUDINAL SECTION AND A NAIL IN SAID PASSAGEWAYSWINGABLY FASTENING SAID HANGER TO SAID JOIST FOR SWINGING MOVEMENT OFSAID BRACKET TOWARD AND AWAY FROM SAID EDGE.